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Gardens!

stosh

Darth Bailer
Jul 20, 2001
22,238
393
NY
squash = easy
carrots = not so easy. have you ever grown 'em before? I got a pack started and on the instructions, it says allow 75 days and they require constant attention (thinning) after a certain point. I'm interested to see how they turn out.
Sandy soil helps with them right?
 

Mr Tiles

I'm a beer snob
Nov 10, 2003
3,469
0
L-town ya'll
sandy and/or loose high-nutrient soil, yes, that's correct. I know carrots are cheap at the grocery store but there's no telling what kind of fertilizers/pesticides are used on them and besides that, there's nothing better than growing your own stuff!
 

Mr Tiles

I'm a beer snob
Nov 10, 2003
3,469
0
L-town ya'll
here's another thought. Who uses fertilizer? I've substituted all fertilizers with compost, i.e. black gold. I plan on this fall when everything has died out to get a scoop of black gold and a scoop of saw dust and till it all in. Next year, I should be rockin' and rollin'...
 

stosh

Darth Bailer
Jul 20, 2001
22,238
393
NY
sandy and/or loose high-nutrient soil, yes, that's correct. I know carrots are cheap at the grocery store but there's no telling what kind of fertilizers/pesticides are used on them and besides that, there's nothing better than growing your own stuff!
Personally one of the biggest reasons for our garden is because we both love veggies but more often than not the veggies we buy go bad. We both have busy schedules so it's difficult to accurently plan out meals so haveing fresh food on hand when-ever we need it is part of our plan.
 

jimmydean

The Official Meat of Ridemonkey
Sep 10, 2001
40,931
13,129
Portland, OR
Yeah our daughter has been eating solid food for a few months now. That is exciting to think she's going to be getting food from the garden too.
My daughter loves to pick stuff fresh from the garden.

This was her first harvest:



We had a lot less yard for a garden then. Our garden now it about the size of the whole back yard in our old house.
 

stosh

Darth Bailer
Jul 20, 2001
22,238
393
NY
My daughter loves to pick stuff fresh from the garden.

This was her first harvest:



We had a lot less yard for a garden then. Our garden now it about the size of the whole back yard in our old house.
Dude, I saw your mug on the wall at the post office this morning.....


Just kidding!

How many pumpkin plants did you have to produce all those?
 

jimmydean

The Official Meat of Ridemonkey
Sep 10, 2001
40,931
13,129
Portland, OR
How many pumpkin plants did you have to produce all those?
I forget, but she overdid it (as usual). My wife has a book called Carrots Love Tomatoes that is all about companion planting. It covers everything from nutritional benefits to natural bug attraction/repellent.

We do most of our garden layout based on it. She doesn't like to use pesticides and chemicals, so it helps a lot.
 

Mr Tiles

I'm a beer snob
Nov 10, 2003
3,469
0
L-town ya'll
My dad will be 84 this year. He came over to the house the other day to check out my garden since it was my first attempt at it. I remember as a kid he would farm at least 2 or 3 acres just for our (and friends, family) consumption. As soon as he saw my garden, he said expand it 3 times bigger. Right now, it's about 18x24. I don't know how grand of scale I'm going to go this fall, maybe double the size. I'm speaking out of terms since I've not pulled one veggie from it yet.

The thought has crossed my mind to get into it next season and possibly try to farm the acre we own across the street and start selling at local farmer's markets. My wife could tend to it during the day since she's 80% stay-at-home. I just like the idea of making some discretionary income of something we enjoy doing...
 

stosh

Darth Bailer
Jul 20, 2001
22,238
393
NY
My dad will be 84 this year. He came over to the house the other day to check out my garden since it was my first attempt at it. I remember as a kid he would farm at least 2 or 3 acres just for our (and friends, family) consumption. As soon as he saw my garden, he said expand it 3 times bigger. Right now, it's about 18x24. I don't know how grand of scale I'm going to go this fall, maybe double the size. I'm speaking out of terms since I've not pulled one veggie from it yet.

The thought has crossed my mind to get into it next season and possibly try to farm the acre we own across the street and start selling at local farmer's markets. My wife could tend to it during the day since she's 80% stay-at-home. I just like the idea of making some discretionary income of something we enjoy doing...


Do you have equipment to farm that large?
I couldn't imagine just tilling that much land. What part of the country do you live in?
I always used marigolds around the edge of my gardens when I was younger. I can't ever remember having a pest problem.
 

BurlyShirley

Rex Grossman Will Rise Again
Jul 4, 2002
19,180
17
TN
Go and either catch or spear common carp from your local waterways. They make a great fertilizer and are a nasty invasive species that displace native fish.
 

stosh

Darth Bailer
Jul 20, 2001
22,238
393
NY
Go and either catch or spear common carp from your local waterways. They make a great fertilizer and are a nasty invasive species that displace native fish.
There is a stream behind my house. I don't think there is much or any carp in it. Just local species to my knowledge.
 

Mr Tiles

I'm a beer snob
Nov 10, 2003
3,469
0
L-town ya'll
Do you have equipment to farm that large?
I couldn't imagine just tilling that much land. What part of the country do you live in?
I always used marigolds around the edge of my gardens when I was younger. I can't ever remember having a pest problem.
I have access to farming equipment, it's just never crossed my mind till this year. I've always been caught up in building trail/dirtjumps/ramps:cheers:

My Dad has an awesome old troy built tiller that could easily handle anything I'd want to do on just shy of an acre.

That's a good idea about the marigolds, I forgot about them as a pest detractor:lighten:

Edit: I'm in NC.
 

stosh

Darth Bailer
Jul 20, 2001
22,238
393
NY
I have access to farming equipment, it's just never crossed my mind till this year. I've always been caught up in building trail/dirtjumps/ramps:cheers:

My Dad has an awesome old troy built tiller that could easily handle anything I'd want to do on just shy of an acre.

That's a good idea about the marigolds, I forgot about them as a pest detractor:lighten:

Edit: I'm in NC.

Growing up my small garden would always be next to the pool at my parents house. I always had good plants and I can never be sure of this but I always thought it had something to do with all the chlorinated water they received as it splashed out of the pool.

Our local "farmers market" costs more than if I were to buy the veggies at the store. Keep that in mind if you try to sell stuff.
 

jimmydean

The Official Meat of Ridemonkey
Sep 10, 2001
40,931
13,129
Portland, OR
Our patch is about 40x30. My neighbor has an awesome troybuilt rear tine tiller that I use. I would love to have one for myself, but $1500 buys a lot of bike crap.
 

TN

Hey baby, want a hot dog?
Jul 9, 2002
14,301
1,353
Jimtown, CO
We have had one for the last few years but now we have no yard so we are going to get creative with some containers.

This year will be mostly heirloom tomatoes, herbs & chiles.

We are not sure what to expect this year being so much farther north.
 

stosh

Darth Bailer
Jul 20, 2001
22,238
393
NY
Our patch is about 40x30. My neighbor has an awesome troybuilt rear tine tiller that I use. I would love to have one for myself, but $1500 buys a lot of bike crap.
yeah apparently my neighbor has a tiller I can use. my dad has an old one that will take me longer to start then I will use it for.
 

jimmydean

The Official Meat of Ridemonkey
Sep 10, 2001
40,931
13,129
Portland, OR
yeah apparently my neighbor has a tiller I can use. my dad has an old one that will take me longer to start then I will use it for.
The first year we lived in this house, I borrowed a friends Sears front tine tiller from the 60's. My back hurt for months. After U was done getting my ass kicked, my neighbor told me I could use his next time.

When we pull the plastic off next weekend, I will get some shots of our dirt layout. We had weeds real bad last year, so this year I mowed everything down, tilled it all up, then covered it with black plastic to cook for 3 months. 2 weeks ago, I put some fertilizer down, tilled it in, then covered it all back up. Next weekend, we will run another soil sample and likely pull it off and plant.
 

DirtMcGirk

<b>WAY</b> Dumber than N8 (to the power of ten alm
Feb 21, 2008
6,379
1
Oz
I think I am going to do a hydroponic herb garden up here.
Someone should have told me the sun never comes out up here.
 

stosh

Darth Bailer
Jul 20, 2001
22,238
393
NY
The first year we lived in this house, I borrowed a friends Sears front tine tiller from the 60's. My back hurt for months. After U was done getting my ass kicked, my neighbor told me I could use his next time.

When we pull the plastic off next weekend, I will get some shots of our dirt layout. We had weeds real bad last year, so this year I mowed everything down, tilled it all up, then covered it with black plastic to cook for 3 months. 2 weeks ago, I put some fertilizer down, tilled it in, then covered it all back up. Next weekend, we will run another soil sample and likely pull it off and plant.


yeah my dads tiller is front tine from the 70's. I may hit up my neighbor but I hate borrowing expensive power equipment.
 

jimmydean

The Official Meat of Ridemonkey
Sep 10, 2001
40,931
13,129
Portland, OR
yeah my dads tiller is front tine from the 70's. I may hit up my neighbor but I hate borrowing expensive power equipment.
I used to until last year. His brother borrowed it and broke the drive chain. I spent a few days pulling the whole thing apart, split the case, found the problem, then got it working again.

Ever since then, I've had free usage whenever I need it. :D
 
Sep 20, 2007
443
0
Champaign, IL
Here's the quick version from last year:

3 kinds of tomatoes
2 kinds of habs
jalapenos
2 different cayenne peppers
banana peppers
pablano peppers
eggplant

I think there was more.... can't remember. Surrounded by marigolds.

Then I had 8 or 9 different herbs.

I plan on something similar this year.

Not bad for a college kid.
 

Damo

Short One Marshmallow
Sep 7, 2006
4,603
27
French Alps
With the winter now behind us, I spent yesterday re-tilling my 'nice' garden and today I'll be digging my 'ugly garden'.

Ugly garden (up the bank behind the house):
Potatoes
Pumpkin
Courgettes
Sweet potato (never tried to grow, but love to eat)
Melons

Nice garden (sculpted with rock features etc):
Wild strawberries
Garden strawberries
Redcurrants
Rhubarb
Bean & pea trellises
Cherry tomatoes
Red & green chilis
Capsicums
Leeks
Carrots
Spring onions
Rocket
Aubergine (eggplant)
Beetroot

Herb garden:
Basil
Rosemary
Thyme
Chives
Sage
Mint
Chervil
Cress
Parsley

I have a bay tree and a lemon tree too.

I'd rather be digging in my pump/jump track today, but it's gotta be done....
 

DaveW

Space Monkey
Jul 2, 2001
11,160
2,685
The bunker at parliament
Just put in the winter vege's a few weeks back so at the moment I have Leeks, spinach, broadbeans, Broccoli.
The Tomatoes for some reason are still going and producing fruit so I've left them in for now.
and other than that I have
Chillis
Globe artichokes
Lemons
Passionfruit
Wassabi
Basil
Chives
Rosemary
Mint
Parsley (Italian and curly)
Oraganum
Thyme
Vietmanese basil
Lavander
Nasturums
Kawakawa
And a kind of native spinach. :)
 

BillT

Monkey
I ordered some trees on-line - moro blood orange, brown turkey fig, and a wurtz avacado. I ended up ordering because none of the local nurseries had what I wanted. My experience was good and the trees arrived in great shape.
 

stosh

Darth Bailer
Jul 20, 2001
22,238
393
NY
I ordered some trees on-line - moro blood orange, brown turkey fig, and a wurtz avacado. I ended up ordering because none of the local nurseries had what I wanted. My experience was good and the trees arrived in great shape.
I wish I could grow Avocado's up here!
 

stosh

Darth Bailer
Jul 20, 2001
22,238
393
NY
I wish I could grow them too...I think mine has root rot and is slowly dieing while my fig and orange trees are thriving.
I had an X who was Puerto Rican and she would talk about picking lemons and avocados in her back yard. The thought of that was so cool to me.
 

Damo

Short One Marshmallow
Sep 7, 2006
4,603
27
French Alps
I've been growing most of mine from seed.
Straight up amazing how quick some of them grow.
Dug up the ugly garden, will plant some of the seedlings in tomorrow. The inside of my house has been looking like a nursery...
 

laura

DH_Laura
Jul 16, 2002
6,259
15
Glitter Gulch
here's another thought. Who uses fertilizer? I've substituted all fertilizers with compost, i.e. black gold. I plan on this fall when everything has died out to get a scoop of black gold and a scoop of saw dust and till it all in. Next year, I should be rockin' and rollin'...
We switched from fertilizers to compost a few summers ago and had great luck with it. Left our composter in Memphis though which is a shame. We need a new one.
 

Mr Tiles

I'm a beer snob
Nov 10, 2003
3,469
0
L-town ya'll
We switched from fertilizers to compost a few summers ago and had great luck with it. Left our composter in Memphis though which is a shame. We need a new one.
I'm investing in a compost set up next month. supposedly, there's an outfit that's having a sale on them in a couple weeks. They're made out of abs plastic/or similar and are supposed to be a great product. Will post back with details once I've procured one.
 

stosh

Darth Bailer
Jul 20, 2001
22,238
393
NY
I'm investing in a compost set up next month. supposedly, there's an outfit that's having a sale on them in a couple weeks. They're made out of abs plastic/or similar and are supposed to be a great product. Will post back with details once I've procured one.
You said Procure!!!!!!!! NICE!!!!!!
 

jimmydean

The Official Meat of Ridemonkey
Sep 10, 2001
40,931
13,129
Portland, OR
here's another thought. Who uses fertilizer? I've substituted all fertilizers with compost, i.e. black gold. I plan on this fall when everything has died out to get a scoop of black gold and a scoop of saw dust and till it all in. Next year, I should be rockin' and rollin'...
The stable my wifes horse stays in makes an awesome compost. I added it when I did the first till this year. My wife loves the idea that her horse contributes to the garden. We also use a mushroom compost mix for all of our transplanting and the seedlings strive on it.

We did lay down an organic fertilizer based on the first soil test 2 weeks ago.

<edit> We got a composter for free a few years ago, but it's not a tumbler, so it doesn't work as well unless you put a lot of effort into mixing it.
 

jdcamb

Tool Time!
Feb 17, 2002
19,799
8,383
Nowhere Man!
I want to live somewhere I can have a garden. I used to have a awesome garden about 10 years ago. Veggies grow awesome here. I used to share with my neighbors all my surplus. It made me feel good sharing. The city takes that away from you. I need to spend some money and move....